The Bathroom Debate

In my mind I can think of three possible outcomes to this.

1) The Animal Outcome: communal bathrooms. Just think of the savings to corporate America - only one bathroom to maintain. Everyone comes in, does their business - with or without their friends, children - and leaves. Perform your natural functions with whatever fixture you are comfortable with (please not the sink!). And yes, use stalls for toilets and dividers for urinals - see, we're still modest animals.

2) The Hellish Outcome (a la Great Divorce): single person bathrooms. Sterile, isolated - one toilet, one urinal (optional), one sink, and a real door. Long lines or many rooms to maintain, but everyone can keep their privacy. And parents can help their children without sending them into other dangers.

 3) The Gospel Outcome: gender specific bathrooms AND national repentance of and discouragement of sexual perversion. "But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female'" (Mark 10:6). There's more to be written, but I can't take more time today.

 As a light-hearted aside, it's been suggested to me that this new legislation will break up the International Spy Ring of Women which in former times used the sanctity of the ladies room to rendezvous and exchange secret messages using drop boxes... I'll stop.

Alula

We are, at long last, expecting our second child - due sometime in late July. The first ultrasound is today. Katlyn is sick and tired, but we are excited and thankful. This one we call "Alula" in utero - from Edmund's early pronunciation of "another" (for instance: "A kitty-cat - and alula kitty-cat!"). Besides, it sounds feminine, and I'm thinking this one is a girl. So that's the news! Praise God!

One Year

As of Wednesday last week, our son Edmund is one year old! What a year of changes and challenges and delights!

Changes

As of Wednesday last week, I am employed by Edwards Distribution Services as a furniture installer and non-CDL delivery driver. I've also been enjoying part-time temporary work edging walkways at the Kirby Episcopal House - a beautiful mansion in the Mountain Top area. God continues to provide!

Tyranny

Which is the tyrant - the government that holds citizens responsible for their actions however irrational, or the government that assumes responsibility for its citizens however benevolent? - Janie B. Cheaney

Liberty

Led to Worship

Ah! mine iniquity crimson has been,
Infinite, infinite, sin upon sin;
Sin of not loving thee, sin of not trusting thee, infinite sin. (Horatius Bonar)

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior's blood?
Died he for me, who caused his pain?
For me, who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That thou, my God shouldst die for me?

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in him, is mine!
Alive in him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th' eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own. (Charles Wesley)

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God:
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood. (Isaac Watts)

One of our deacons, Craig Riggall, led worship using these hymns today. In light of what I've been given in Jesus Christ, I don't want to be charmed by anything less.

Today, both of my state senators (Pennsylvania) effectively voted against the full audit for the Federal Reserve. Their alternative allows the Federal Reserve, a private bank, to remain largely unaccountable for their woeful mismanagement of money and destructive manipulation of the economy – even while they appear to vote for an (incomplete) audit.

If you write to them expressing your displeasure at their decision, please also insist they vote against Senator Dodd's Restoring American Financial Stability Act (S. 3217), which actually increases the Federal Reserve’s powers. Attached is the contact information for both senators as well as the official press release from the Campaign for Liberty, which has rallied support for the Audit the Fed movement.

Sen. Robert Casey
393 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-6324

Sen. Arlen Specter
711 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4254

Full Fed Audit Amendment Voted Down in Senate

Washington, D.C., May 11, 2010 - Today, the U.S. Senate voted 62 to 37 against an amendment to allow greater transparency at the Federal Reserve.

This amendment was introduced to counter a weaker amendment that would have required only a one time audit just of Fed emergency programs. The new amendment was similar to the original H.R. 1207 audit bill introduced by Congressman Ron Paul and added to the House financial reform package.

"The Sanders Amendment is no substitute for a complete and thorough audit of the Fed," said John Tate, President of Campaign for Liberty. "With this vote, we now have a record of those who really want transparency and those who only pay lip-service to it while upholding the status quo."

If the entire financial regulation bill makes it out of the Senate, it heads to the House, where House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank will choose which version to move forward on.

“The Dodd bill itself is just another bad piece of legislation, which will benefit no one except the Fed and its friends at big banks,” said Tate. “It institutionalizes bailouts for banks and subsidizes risky financial decisions.”

"Despite what happens with the financial regulation bill, we will continue pushing Congress for an up or down vote on H.R. 1207, which is the only full audit to allow true transparency in our financial system.”

Topics of Conversation

Great people talk about ideas.
Average people talk about things.
Petty people talk about people.

- a tidbit my wife shared with me from somewhere or other...

Bored and Rest-less?

I’ve had a longstanding beef with the concept of boredom. I see it as a character deficiency at best and the sin of discontent at worst.

Today in chapel we were pointed to Matthew 11: 28-30. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and burden is light.” This brought to mind the quote of Augustine’s approximated here: “Our souls are restless till they rest in Thee.”

We are marked by our restlessness (literally “without rest”). We constantly look for something to “rest” in whether it be resolute inactivity or our industrious accomplishments or any variety of pleasurable stimuli – the sorts of things that the Teacher of Ecclesiastes pursued. If we aren’t satisfied with whatever it is, we claim boredom and look elsewhere for rest.

Isaiah 55:1-2 parallels Jesus call in Matthew 11. “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”

If I am resting in Christ – completely satisfied with my portion in God – then there is no place in my life for restlessness, discontent, or boredom! Or put another way: if I am restless, discontent, or bored, Jesus calls me to come and rest and be satisfied abundantly in Him.

Ten minutes or less

I'm being reminded again that any foundation other than God is bound to fail. Emotions of the past week have been tumultuous. Even three snow days and a federal holiday (making for a six day weekend from school!) were insufficient to lighten the tensions of keeping house, doing homework, hosting my brother and a friend-in-transition, feeling helpless with the effects of pregnancy, wanting to start readying the house for the baby, knowing our reliance on God was weak, struggling with complaining and laziness and fear and indecision, wanting to be thankful...

Yesterday and today, my own stress lightened. I don't know why. Katlyn smiled (even when her body ached). God is growing us. We pray lots; others pray for us, too. In the midst of a stressful morning I tried to sing what I know is true:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.

All glory, laud, and honor to my Redeemer King!

Writing

There is never an ideal time to write. I was reminded of this again while reading Edith Schaeffer's Hidden Art with my wife. How often does one have all the good intentions of sitting down to write a letter to someone (or email) and yet never actually do it? How often have I hoped to write a blog post catching up or recording the adventures of the past year? Anyway - the recommendation is to write. Just write - even if it doesn't come out profoundly or even correctly. That is hard for me and my pride. This advice doesn't negate editing or re-writing or even discarding - but insists that writing actually happen. So - I've got five minutes left of my self-appointed writing interval to say something more.

I'm enjoying Sundays. Katlyn and I are trying to take seriously God's command to keep the Sabbath - one of the ten that seems to slip through the cracks. There are times our obedience is inconvenient: not buying gas, not grabbing forgotten things at the store, not eating out for a nice date. But those are the negatives. The positives far outweigh them: no homework! Relaxing time for reading, crocheting, journaling, writing, discussing the sermons, praying, getting to know one another better, talking about the future - our hopes and goals...

My time is up. Write on!

Narcissism, ADHD & Stalking

I suppose everyone has heard the joke about how YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are going to merge to form one super time-wasting website called YouTwitFace. from Mark Dove commenting here: http://www.baylyblog.com/2009/10/peeping-pams.html

Marriage...

...that blessed arrangement...

What a year! That Katlyn girl became my wife on June 13. And we were immediately reminded (repeatedly) that this is God's story, not ours. His orchestration is flawless, and and he daily supplies the necessary grace to follow his leading and cover our blunders. I am thrilled beyond ready words, and so will write no more - except to say:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

He is no fool...

... who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. ~Jim Elliot

Giving up has such negative connotations. And perseverence is so biblical. But - when I persevere in my own story and give up on God's, I'm a fool. Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it."

My story is so pathetic - self-centered and limited by my own understanding. God's story is glorious - mysterious - and it centers on the beautiful, victorious, gentle, powerful, unchanging King Jesus!

This summer I was called to give up the security of three years teaching 7th and 8th grades to take the 1st and 2nd grade opening at Immanuel Christian School. I was called to give up a short half-week with Susque's Adventure Camp to serve new Staff-In-Training for four weeks. I don't know all the reasons God made changes in my plans, but I'm glad he did!

Being forced to rely on God grows faith and brings blessings. For one, I am getting to see God clearly at work writing his story. And part of that has been discovering the friendship of this Katlyn girl who is in love with Jesus...

Liberty

Freedom to suffer the consequences of one's actions.

That's what I want. That's why I've joined Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty And I still plan on writing him in when I vote in November.

Why not Obama?

Again, it's been the Baylys who have brought the clarity of God's Revelation to my attention. This article is from one of their readers: "Destruction of Bodies AND Souls"

An excerpt:
"Barack Obama is a figure of carefully crafted modesty. Whether in his nuanced, nebulous "positions," or in his studied, opaque demeanor, Obama's power has been his ability to promise radical change in a cloak of moderation and modesty. And despite the fact that his positions on abortion are actually worse (God forbid) than Clinton's, he has managed to convince Christians (I know many) of his moderation, or at least his overall acceptability. I mean, even if one disagrees with him on abortion, it's not the only issue, right? What about poverty, illiteracy, spiritual insensitivity, education, disenfranchisement, immigration?

Ah, yes, yes. How often I remember Scripture's warnings about the dangers of illegal immigration! How keenly I recall the prophets thundering against illiteracy! How vociferously do the apostles denounce habitat destruction! And how could we forget Paul's enviable sensitivity to the religious traditions of the Athenians?"

Do you support Death?

I've been wondering if all issues boil down to life and death. Certainly some do. As a Christian, I must oppose death - even as I embrace my own. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." or "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." That is why I must speak, in spite of my fear of man, against any that promote death.

The Mordor Party

Biblical Preaching

about 26 min: "Your best friend is the one who tells you the most truth." In America we have become so thin-skinned that no one can rebuke us; no one can tell us we are wrong... We don't want to offend... One of the greatest distinguishing marks of a false prophet is that he will always tell you what you want to hear.

about 54 min: "The only thing that's going to save the church in America - there's only two possibilities: One is a total reformation in our preaching and our study of the Word of God. And the other is fierce, horrifying persecution."

Be Fruitful...

Disturbing story on the environmental impact of contraceptive pills and the inconvenience such science is to the liberal agenda:

The Pill as Pollutant

Found via the Bayly blog

Progress for Paul

Fifteen and nine tenths percent for Ron Paul in the Pennsylvania primaries! Mr. McCain got less than 75% of those who voted. Those who abstained, not liking the media's proclaimed winner (perhaps unaware that a true conservative was still running), signal the despair or frustration in the Republican party. I've not said it publically - and it is cliche, but "Dr. Paul cured my apathy!"